ISSN: 2319-8753

International Journal of Innovative Research in Science,

Engineering and Technology
(An ISO 3297: 2007 Certified Organization)

Vol.3 , Issue 2, February 2014

Management of HRD Requirements - A Case

Study of Indian Footwear Industry
Sambasiva Rao Vanimireddy1, Subashini K2, Harish K3
Business Processes Division, CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India 1
CEO & Faculty, Martins Academy, Bangalore, Karnataka, India 2
Technical Assistant (Engineering Services), Bharath Electronics Limited, Bangalore, Karnataka, India 3

Abstract: Footwear is the product to protect human feet from effects of all biological damages. Many companies use to
concentrate different segment like mens-wear, womens-wear and childrens-wear separately. Footwear industry has been
giving considerable amount of employment to the nation especially weaker sections and minority sections of society in India.
Population growth, exports, domestic markets are the factors of expansion of footwear industry and creation of employment
opportunities in this sector. This case study reveals the production capacities, structure of industry, exports growth, global
imports, per capita consumption and estimates of Human Resources future requirements in footwear industry in India.
Keywords: Indian Footwear Industry, HRD in Indian Footwear Industry, HRD for footwear, Footwear Industry, Shoe Industry,
Per Capita Consumption of footwear in India, Production Capacities in Footwear Industry
I. INTRODUCTION
Footwear is the product to protect human feet from effects of all biological damages. Footwear industry is age old
traditional industry in India and it has been changed structurally into different segments like casual-wears, dress-wears
and sportswear. New segment is emerging for medical purposes as medical-wear like diabetic footwear. Many
companies use to concentrate different segment like mens-wear, womens-wear and childrens-wear separately.
Footwear industry has been giving considerable amount of employment to the nation especially weaker sections and
minority sections of society in India. Population growth, exports, domestic markets are the factors of expansion of
footwear industry and creation of employment opportunities in this sector. This case study reveals the production
capacities, structure of industry, exports growth, global imports, per capita consumption and estimates of future
requirements of human resources in footwear industry in India.
CONCENTRATION OF FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY IN INDIA: The major production of footwear manufacturing
concentrated in these centers.

Tamil Nadu - Chennai, Ambur, Ranipet, Vaniyambadi, Trichy, Dindigul

Maharashta - Mumbai
West Bengal - Kolkata
Uttar Pradesh - Kanpur, Agra & Noida
Punjab Jallandhar, Ludhiana
Karnataka - Bangalore
Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad
Haryana - Ambala, Gurgaon, Panchkula and Karnal
Delhi and Surroundings

MICRO, SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN INDIAN FOOTWEAR SECTOR

According to Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Government of India estimates that there are 20463 units registered
as working enterprises, with employment of 97,741 people, with the networth of Rs. 3993.99 crores in micro, small &
medium enterprises in India. These units are having Rs.737.17 crores in Plant and Machinery investment and
Rs.2324,94 crores in fixed assets and Gross output of Rs.6008.77 crores. All these units are manufacturing all kinds of
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ISSN: 2319-8753
International Journal of Innovative Research in Science,
Engineering and Technology
(An ISO 3297: 2007 Certified Organization)

Vol.3 , Issue 2, February 2014

footwear like leather, non-leather and other types of footwear. These units had the 1.31 percentage in the total Indian
units of 1563974 (100%) in micro, small & medium enterprises in India.[1]
Table No. 1: Footwear Manufacturing Sector in Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises 1
Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises
Manufacture of Footwear
All India (All Segments)

Number of working Enterprises

20,463
15,63,974

% Share
1.31
100.00

PRODUCTION CAPACITIES OF INDIAN LEATHER INDUSTRY: As per Council for Leather Exports, Chennai
estimates, India produces 2065 million pairs of different categories of footwear (leather footwear - 909 million pairs,
leather shoe uppers - 100 million pairs and non-leather footwear - 1056 million pairs). India exports about 115 million
pairs. Thus, nearly 95% of its production goes to meet its own domestic demand.[2]
Table No. 2: Production Capacities in Indian Leather Industry

Product
Footwear and Footwear Components
Leather Shoe Uppers
Non-leather footwear
Total

Capacity
909 million pairs
100 million pairs
1056 million pairs
2065 million pairs

Leather shoes and uppers are manufactured in medium to large-scale units and the sandals and chappals are
manufactured in the household and cottage sector. The industry is poised for adopting the modern and state-of-the-art
technology to suit the exacting international requirements and standards. India produces more of gents footwear while
the worlds major production is in ladies footwear. In the case of chapels and sandals, use of non-leather material is
prevalent in the domestic market.
PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION
Some estimates available for population growth and per capita footwear consumption and there is a significant rise
from 1.65 in 2008 to 1.87 in 2011 and again to 2.19 in 2013.[3]
Table No. 3 INDIAN FOOTWEAR - PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION
YEAR
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009 Provisional
2010 Provsional
2011 Estimates
2012 Estimates
2013 Estimates

Pairs (in millions)

1100
1204
1299
1412
1532
1800
2060
2245
2470
2742

Population (in millions)

Per Capita Consumption (in Pairs)

930

1.65

1200

1.87

1250

2.19

FOOTWEAR PRICING SEGMENTS

Mass Market Target price of Rs.185-700 is dominated by Bata and Liberty
Economy Market - Target price of Rs.700-1000 is dominated again by Bata and Liberty
Sports Market - Target price of Rs.1000-3000 is dominated by international brands Nike, Adidas
Premium Leather Market - Target price of Rs.3000-5000 is dominated by different brands
Luxury Market - Target price of Rs. 10,000 50,000 is dominated by GUCCI, Louis Vuitton, etc.

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International Journal of Innovative Research in Science,
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(An ISO 3297: 2007 Certified Organization)

Vol.3 , Issue 2, February 2014

II

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Indian footwear industry is providing employment opportunities to India. Basically this industry is labour intensive
since it is regular consumable item for everybody. Based on the present employment, domestic markets, export
growth, there is a need to look into this industry for creation of more employment opportunities to the nation. Industry,
Government, Educational Institutions, Industry Associations would look into further investments in the industry and
also HRD requirements for future years. Thus Estimates of HRD are required to give an idea for overall development
of Industry.
III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This study is in terms of purpose is an applied and is type of descriptive- analytical and in terms of data collection is
library method and data gathering tools in this study is through website, internet. Analysis on exports growth, global
markets, present employment, employment required per unit and further estimates on the growth of exports and
domestic markets.
EXPORTS FROM INDIAN FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY AND GROWTH
Table No. 4 - EXPORTS FROM INDIAN FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY DIFFERENT SEGMENTS (2011-12 & 2012-13 AND 2013 Latest)

(Value in Million US$)

CATEGORY
LEATHER FOOTWEAR

APR-MAR

APR-MAR

APR-SEP

APR-SEP

2011-12

2012-13

VARIATION

2012

2013

VARIATION

1717.24

1684.22

-1.92%

840.12

956.00

13.79%

FOOTWEAR COMPONENTS

281.94

245.04

-13.09%

124.04

160.64

29.50%

NON-LEATHER FOOTWEAR

79.96

126.67

58.42%

53.11

88.69

67.01%

2079.14

2055.93

-1.12%

1017.27

1205.33

18.49%

TOTAL

MAJOR EXPORT MARKETS - During 2011-12, the main markets for Indian Footwear are UK with a share of
17.35%, Germany 17.03%, Italy 10.58%, USA 8.81%, France 7.67%, Spain 5.48%, Netherlands 4.90%, Portugal
1.38%, U.A.E 2.99% and Denmark 1.17.%. These 10 countries together accounts for nearly 80% share in Indias total
footwear export. Nearly 90% of Indias export of footwear goes to European Countries and the USA. Future growth of
Indian footwear in India will continue to be market driven. The European countries and the US are major consumers for
the Indian footwear. [4]
Table No.5 - INDIAN FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY EXPORT MARKETS

(Value in Million $)
Country

2005-06

Germany

170.97

UK
Italy
USA
France
Spain

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

% Share

217.23

246.84

229.65

224.3

286.7

353.77

17.03%

195.78

208.2

241.37

247.06

296.45

339.65

360.48

17.35%

134.35

186.11

229.81

221.09

210

219.72

219.79

10.58%

131.07

127.15

136.92

163.03

123.6

143.02

183.1

8.81%

74.48

99.81

116.03

119.2

144.56

154.95

159.27

7.67%

63.7

64.57

76.69

91.86

95.94

112.05

113.85

5.48%

Netherlands

32.96

48.57

72.91

76.2

65.13

6.19

101.72

4.90%

Portugal

22.15

35.03

37.34

28.21

22.63

25.69

28.77

1.38%

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Vol.3 , Issue 2, February 2014

UAE

25.78

34.64

39.23

39.4

39.45

41.82

62.06

2.99%

Denmark

18.37

14.65

17.48

14.78

17.01

16.55

24.3

1.17%

Australia

11.58

10.11

12.52

13.34

15.5

12.82

15.59

0.75%

Sweden

6.77

7.99

12.04

12.64

12.2

12.07

14.08

0.68%

Canada

11.95

10.91

10.41

8.96

9.3

10.56

15.01

0.72%

South Africa

8.26

12.11

8.52

8.49

9.87

11.33

14.75

0.71%

Japan

3.17

3.07

4.63

8.23

5.45

7.51

14.63

0.70%

Others
Total

133.9

156.76

226.61

252.18

216.2

358.04

396.10

19.07%

1045.24

1236.91

1489.35

1534.32

1507.59

1758.67

2077.27

100.00%

GLOBAL SCENERIO OF FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY - IMPORTS

Footwear Imports - Global Trend:[5]
Below Tables shows that Russia, The Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Spain, Canada has considerable growth in their
imports but Hong Kong, Belgium has little negative growth in their imports. In dollar terms, difference in imports for
five years has given and difference is more in USA than Russia even though growth rate is higher in Russia than USA.
Table No. 6 - Major Importing Countries of Footwear (Leather and Non-Leather) (Value in Million US$)

Country

2007

USA

20039.13

2011
23245.06

Diffrence
3205.93

% Growth
16.00

Germany

5966.99

8527.62

2560.63

42.91

France
UK

5473.04
5281.55

6538.01
5886.75

1064.97
605.2

19.46
11.46

Italy

4529.77

5661.77

1132

24.99

Japan

3750.04

5062.13

1312.09

34.99

Hong Kong

4881.67

4850.30

-31.37

-0.64

Russia

2067.82

3935.95

1868.13

90.34

Netherlands

2297.95

3716.65

1418.7

61.74

Spain

2388.74

3114.08

725.34

30.36

Belgium

2543.04

2427.09

-115.95

-4.56

Canada

1677.05

2089.43

412.38

24.59

IV. MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES REQUIREMENTS FOR INDIAN FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY

EMPLOYMENT - The footwear industry is an employment intensive sector, providing jobs nearly about 1.10 million
people, mostly from the weaker and minority sections of the society in which women employment is predominantly
more in comparison with other industries. Nearly semi skilled and skilled manpower contributed about 50% share in its
workforce. Many estimates are available on workforce on leather industry, but experts in the industry accepted the
following figures in the Twelfth Five Year Plan period 2012-17. The estimated employment in different sectors of
leather industry is as follows:
Table No. 7 - Employment in Various Segments in Footwear Industry
Industry segment
Workforce (All over India) in million
Footwear & Footwear components (organised)
0.20
Footwear & Footwear components (cottage,
0.90
house hold, and rural artisans in unorganised sector)
Total Indian Leather and leather product Industries
2.50
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Percentage of Total
8%
36%
100%
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Vol.3 , Issue 2, February 2014

Employment Required Per Unit - Estimates are available and persons required for 1000 pairs per day in footwear
factory for full shoe unit and shoe upper unit separately. Different categories are required for the manufacturing of full
shoe or shoe upper in a footwear unit.
Table No. 8 - EMPLOYMENT PER UNIT IN FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY (1000 Pairs per Day)
Category
Closed Shoes
Shoe Uppers
Production Manager
2
2
Supervisor
20
20
Shop floor Workers
200
200
Machine Operators
50
-Machine Maintenance Personnel
10
-Designer Pattern Makers
5
2
Table No. 9 - Distribution of human resource across various functions in footwear industry
Function
Percentage of People
Manufacturing/Production
80-85%
Designing & Sampling
2-3%
Sales
3-5%
Finance, HR, Administration, etc
10-15%
Total
100%
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Established institutions are offering many courses for footwear industry. Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai is
offering certificate, diploma, B.Tech, M.Tech and Ph.D courses for footwear industry. Footwear Design &
Development Institute is offering many designing courses and Central Footwear Training Institutes are offering courses
for manufacture of footwear. Nearly 25 institutions in the country such as the Footwear Design and Development
Institute (FDDI), Central Footwear Training Institute (CFTI), Central Footwear Training Center (CFTC), Institute of
Leather Technology (ILT) etc. impart training to students. Here again, out of 3,200 trainees passing out of these
institutions per annum, 53% have degree, diploma or certificate courses (long term) as against 47% completing the
short term (less than one year) courses. While the former group is absorbed as middle level managers/supervisors, the
latter group is placed as Assistant Supervisors or Skilled Workers.
Table No.10- Distribution of human resource by education level in manufacture of leather products
Education Level
CA/MBA
Other Graduates

Percentage of People
1-2%
3-5%

Engineers

1-2%

Diploma or Equivalent Certification

2-3%

Other Vocational Courses

1-2%

th

Class12th/10 & Below

Total
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85-90%

Role in the organization

Management, Marketing, Accounts, Planning
Assistants in various departments, rising up to
Department Head level overtime with experience
Marketing, Merchandising, Product Development
and Engineering, Designing & Sampling,
Production Planning
Production
supervisors,
Maintenance
supervisor, Store manager
Line in-charge, Machine Maintenance
Operators, assistants, helpers

100%
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International Journal of Innovative Research in Science,
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Vol.3 , Issue 2, February 2014

HRD FUTURE REQUIREMENTS

Based on the export target set by the Government of India, structure and expansion of industry and its production
capacities, a study has been conducted for human resource and skill requirements in leather and leather goods industry
by National Skills Development Corporation, New Delhi (NSDC). NSDC engaged IMaCS (ICRAManagement
Consulting Services Limited) to prepare the report, which is based on independent research and analysis done by
IMaCS. Projection of HRD requirements for footwear industry has been calculated and given by IMaCS based on 12%
CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) for Exports and 8% CAGR for domestic markets. For Export markets, for
the year of 2011, estimated figures are given below:[6]
Table No.11- Human resource required by the exports segment in leather sector by 2011 (in 000s)
Product
Footwear

Human resource / unit of production

400 persons/1000 pairs/ day

Human resource requirement

400

ICRA Management Consulting Services Limited (IMaCS) analysis estimates the requirements of human resources for
Indian footwear industry. Below table shows the estimates for different years and incremental figures for future
requirements.
Table No.12 - Human resource requirement in the footwear industry between 2008 and 2022 (in 000s)
Sector
Footwear and footwear components

2008
1,100

2012
1,698

2018
2,334

2022
3,141

Incremental
2,041

IV.CONCLUSION
Employment opportunities creation is very important to any nation like India. Footwear industry is giving more
employment opportunities since the people are spending more on footwear and its quality. More opportunities in
exports and domestic markets due to population growth and increase in per capita consumption and purchasing power
of middle class people are giving hope to India in footwear sector for future employment creation in India. Being a
labour intensive industry, its contribution to employment as well as Indian economy is significant. It has potential to
provide employment across all sections of the economy especially weaker sections and minority communities in India.
With a focused approach on growing the Industrial and Institutional business, the industry can offer globally renowned
industrial footwear products. Quality consciousness, research & development, abundance of raw material, export
potential and low cost are some of the distinct features of the Indian Footwear Industry. However, to maintain the
growth trajectory, there is need of a purposeful review of programmes and policies of human resources development to
rejuvenate it.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Authors thank the Dr AB Mandal, Director, CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute, Adyar, Chennai and Dr Martin,
Dean Martins Academy, Bangalore for support and encouragement
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]

Final Report Fourth All India Census of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises 2006-2007 : Registered Sector
Council for Leather Exports, Chennai http://www.leatherindia.org/products/footwear-23-4-13.asp
Data available with www.retailmantra.com/india-organized-footwear-shoes-retail-chain-brands- review/
Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics, Kolkata
Trade Statistics of International Trade Centre, Geneva
Primary Research and IMaCS analysis

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